Claim: The Ukrainians are contacting the mothers of dead Russians
Sadly, this claim is true: they are using Clearview AI facial recognition and Clearview itself is proud of it.
Forewarning: this is a rather sad and upsetting subject, about some very distressing, macabre, sick behaviour.
Subsequent to writing this article I found out that this sick behaviour is openly boasted about on the Clearview AI page.
UKRAINIAN SOLDIER CONTACTING THE MOTHER OF DEAD RUSSIAN SOLDIER
Unfortunately. the claim that the Russians are contacting the mothers of dead Russian soldiers is true. I will lay out the evidence for you, see if you agree with me.
Recently on social media, a video was shared of a Ukrainian soldier contacting the mother of a dead Russian. It has been uploaded on bitchute more than once. Here is the link, but it is quite upsetting.
The link is here, but it’s an upsetting video.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/Uggt3tkpZL7H/
Strangely, this video has not made it onto youtube. I’m sure that’s because none of youtube’s billions of users have uploaded it.
The Washington Post has done more research into this story.
Ukrainian officials have run more than 8,600 facial recognition searches on dead or captured Russian soldiers in the 50 days since Moscow’s invasion began, using the scans to identify bodies and contact hundreds of their families in what may be one of the most gruesome applications of the technology to date.
Apparently the Ukrainians are using Clearview AI, a company that scans the web for facial images, a claim that Reuters has confirmed
March 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's defense ministry on Saturday began using Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology, the company's chief executive told Reuters, after the U.S. startup offered to uncover Russian assailants, combat misinformation and identify the dead.
Ukraine is receiving free access to Clearview AI’s powerful search engine for faces, letting authorities potentially vet people of interest at checkpoints, among other uses, added Lee Wolosky, an adviser to Clearview and former diplomat under U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Clearview AI are so proud of this they display the fact prominently on their website (archived from April) .
The Washington Post confirmed with Clearview that Ukrainian agencies are using the software, including one agency that asked Clearview to remain confidential.
Clearview shared with The Post emails from three Ukrainian agencies — the National Police, the Defense Ministry and a third agency that asked the company to remain confidential — confirming the software was in use. Officials at those agencies and the IT Army declined to comment further or did not respond to requests for comment. Clearview declined to identify two other Ukrainian agencies it said were currently using its software.
In emails that Clearview shared with The Post, a representative of the Defense Ministry said it had tested Clearview by scanning photos of dead soldiers’ faces and were “pleasantly surprised” when the tool returned links to the Russians’ VK and Instagram accounts.
IT ARMY OF UKRAINE
On Telegram, on the channel IT Army of Ukraine, Обращение IT-армии к русским, numerous videos have been uploaded in which they are boasting about their use of AI to identify faces and inform the relatives:
AND THE ORIGINAL VIDEO?
Whether or not this particular video is genuine I cannot verify, however it does fit with the rest of the facts. I think it has the ring of truth.
What is particularly chilling about this particiular video, though, is that the Ukrainian soldiers are laughing as he tells the Russian mother that her son died. They think it’s funny.
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?
According to Washington Post, the Ukrainians want to make the war unpopular with the Russian populace.
In another conversation, a stranger sent a message to a Russian mother saying her son was dead, alongside a photo showing a man’s body in the dirt — face grimacing and mouth agape. The recipient responded with disbelief, saying it wasn’t him, before the sender passed along another photo showing a gloved hand holding the man’s military documents.
“Why are you doing this?” the recipient wrote back. “Do you want me to die? I already don’t live. You must be enjoying this.”
The stranger responded that young men were already dying, by the thousands. This is “the only way to stop all this madness,” the sender wrote. “How many more people must die?”
I wonder if this sick behaviour might not have the opposite effect.
SICK FACT HALL OF FAME
Clearview AI and the the IT Army of Ukraine hold the award today for being proud of such sick, uncompassionate behaviour.
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ADDENDUM - MORE CONFIRMATION
The AI image search is Clearview AIs interface, without a doubt. At the top it has the same Upload Image/Confirm Image buttons as an image taken from a Clearview AI instructional video.